Paraben, benzoic acid, salicylic acid and so on have been used for the antiseptic disinfectants in the cosmetics and toiletries (including quasi drugs), medicine or food. As the above-mentioned conventional antiseptic disinfectants have low degree in their safety because of the high skin irriant etc., they have a defect that the range of the concentration for use tends to be limited. For example, the restricted concentration of paraben and benzoate for use is 1%, and the restricted concentration of benzoic acid and salicylic acid for use is 0.2%. Further, there have been problems that the antiseptic disinfection effect of those antiseptic disinfectants is not reliable because they are easily influenced by pH, and that antiseptic and antibacterial activity may remarkably fall by the combination use with other compounds such as surfactant. Still further, the number of people who are allergic to those antiseptic disinfectants is increasing in recent years. Therefore, more people are oriented to the safety, and so the demand for the cosmetics and toiletries, medicine and food without the antiseptic disinfectant or containing very reduced amount of it is increasing.
As the technical means to reduce or remove the antiseptic disinfectant, the antiseptic disinfectant containing 1,2-alkanediol (referring to publication No. 11-322591 of Published Japanese patent application) and moisturizing bacteriostatic for detergent or nondetergent cosmetics and toiletries containing 1,2-octanediol (referring to publication No. 2001-48720 of Published Japanese patent application) are disclosed. In using 1,2-alkanediol such as 1,2-octanediol solely for the antiseptic disinfectant, 1,2-alkanediol has to be compounded in a large amount if the nonionic surfactant exists in the compound. Further, as the 1,2-alkanediol has a peculiar odor of its material, it causes the problem of the odor when compounded in cosmetics and toiletries, etc.
Still further, for the technical means as to the antiseptic disinfectant using 1,2-alkanediol, a composition for external use compounded with 1,2-pentanediol and 2-phenoxyethanol (referring to publication No. 10-53510 of Published Japanese patent application) and an antiseptic disinfectant containing 1,2-alkanediol and paraben (referring to publication No. 11-310506 of Published Japanese patent application) are disclosed. The aims of those are, however, to improve the effect of antiseptic by the combination use of antiseptic and 1,2-alkanediol such as 1,2-pentanediol, but not to completely remove the antiseptic itself.
Meanwhile, fragrance compositions are generally compounded in the cosmetics and toiletries and food etc. to give rich smell to the products. It is known since a long time ago that the fragrance compositions theirselves have antibacterial action, and for example, the fragrance composition such as cresyl acetate, methyl eugenol, heliotropin and ethyl salicylate is disclosed as anticaries that has antibacterial action against mutans (referring to Published Japanese patent publication No. 5-67608). However, there has been a problem that the antibacterial action only by the fragrance composition does not give enough antiseptic disinfectant effect for cosmetics, toiletries and so on.
In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the inventors, after studying very hard, found that combination use of 1,2-alkanediol and a specific fragrance composition enhances the antibacterial activity which 1,2-alkanediol originally has against many different kinds of strains to mask the odor of 1,2-alkanediol material, thereby the present invention has been completed.